Buckinghamshire Council

Buckinghamshire Council was formed in 2022, when the District and County Councils were merged

Hallmark March 2025. By Shade Adoh and Robert Carington

We continue to encourage community groups to participate in the North West Chilterns Community Board and take advantage of the available funds to carry out projects, especially as from May it will be reformed to match the overall local Buckinghamshire Council ward boundary changes which will take effect at the election.

The Council has launched a comprehensive ‘All-Age Carers Strategy’ ­­– aimed at making life easier for everyone who provides regular unpaid care and support to another person in Bucks. The strategy has been co-produced by the council, alongside health partners and representatives across social care and the voluntary and community sector. It sets out the joint commitment to carers of all ages in Buckinghamshire, to ensure they are valued and supported.

The new strategy details how the council and its partners will continue to develop and deliver meaningful support to unpaid carers, to enable carers to maintain a positive quality of life alongside their caring role.

Key highlights of the new strategy are:

• Identification of carers: with more organisations recognising unpaid carers, understanding their needs and signposting to support.

• Partnership collaboration: working together to better support carers across the system and sharing information across organisations.

• Health and wellbeing support: empowering carers to access support and keep themselves healthy.

• Access to information and guidance: with improved digital information and wider reach enabling more people to access services.

• Community engagement: strengthening community networks to foster a supportive environment for carers, including across employers and education settings.

The Carers Strategy is set to be implemented over the next five years, with regular reviews to ensure its effectiveness and adaptability to the evolving needs of carers.

A Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Buckinghamshire, which will guide future investment in active travel infrastructure across the county, has been adopted by the Council.

Buckinghamshire has been awarded more than £2 million by Active Travel England to spend on developing further active travel projects and infrastructure in the county.

The Buckinghamshire LCWIP proposes a network of ‘corridors’ suitable for cycling, walking and ‘wheeling’ (adapted cycles, wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams and push scooters), to connect towns and villages. The LCWIP has considered different journey destinations, including employment, education, public transport, local facilities and visitor attractions.

Following approval of the LCWIP by Cabinet, the Council will continue to undertake further work to establish how these ‘corridors’ could be created, including local engagement, design work and seeking external funding – which is essential to progress these schemes

The LCWIP ‘corridors’ may include new or improved off-road routes, routes alongside roads or crossing points.

In recognition of Random Act of Kindness Day (17 February 2025), we're asking Buckinghamshire residents ‘which good cause will benefit from your random act of kindness?’ There are already over 1,500 active players across Buckinghamshire who helped raise nearly £94,000 last year for local good causes – and we'd like to see even more!

The Lottery supports over 380 good causes in the county to raise invaluable funds. By purchasing a ticket for just £1 per week, players not only have the opportunity to win cash prizes including the weekly £25,000 jackpot, but 60p of every ticket sale goes directly towards supporting local good causes. From animal charities, scout groups, charities providing support for health issues like cancer, mental health and Alzheimer’s, local food banks, sport clubs and youth projects – there’s a good cause close to everybody's heart.

Please consider registering with Buckinghamshire Lottery to kick start your fundraising and make a positive impact to the community (and you could potentially win big yourselves) by purchasing tickets. Good causes can register, and players can sign up at buckinghamshirelottery.co.uk

lf you have any other matters or concerns relating to Buckinghamshire Council don't hesitate to contact either:

robert.carington@ buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07515 997953

shade.adoh@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07941 618331

Harkmark June 2024. By Mike Piercy

A couple of weeks before Easter our councillors held a ‘surgery’ in Lacey Green Village Hall so I went along to meet them. We are in the Ridgeway West ward of Buckinghamshire Council and three councillors have been elected for our ward. They will be running 4 surgeries this year. Today the surgery was being run by Councillor Shade Adoh and Councillor Robert Carington.

They did not hold a surgery in Lacey Green last year and as it was still early in the year, word had not got around as much as they would like and very few residents attended. We agreed that more publicity will be needed for the next meeting in Lacey Green at the end of November. I was told that though they are happy to discuss any topic, people come to the face to face meetings to discuss the more complex and delicate issues.

Each councillor has specific responsibilities within the Council. Councillor Adoh speaks on equality and diversity. She is also on the Council's select committee for adult and social care and the select committee for children and education. She also sits on the Fire Authority executive. Councillor Carington is Vice Chairman of the Transport, Environment and Climate select committee as well as sits on the Audit and Governance Select Committee and the Standards Committees. Both of them have full time jobs outside the council and both have families to look after. They must have very full diaries!

Councillor Adoh has been a councillor since 2015 and has been through the merger of the old District and County Councils into the unitary authority. We discussed projects that the councillors have worked on in our ward.

They talked about the role of the North West Chiltern Community Board and the funding it can bring to local charities and good causes. If you look at their website you can find some examples of local projects that they have carried out.

If you are associated with a local organisation who are trying to raise money then the Community Board should be one of your first contacts.

They can provide grants of up to £1,000 for small projects, or contributory funding of up to £15,000 for larger projects.

Hallmark November 2023. Traffic calming petition. The petition was discussed at a special Community Board meeting on the 7th September.. The following recommendations were discussed:-

1. Commission a review of available speed data to determine its suitability as the basis of a formal speed limit assessment.

2. Liaise with the LAT (Local Area Technician), to determine if maintenance could increase the available width of the existing footway.

3. Commission a review of options to improve conspicuity of the 30mph gateway; this could include foliage cutback and enhanced signage.

4. St John's Church of England Primary School should re-engage with the Schools’ Sustainable Travel team to update and continue their School Travel Plan.

It was agreed that as a next-step actions 2-4 would be further considered and further speed data and other supporting evidence should be collected to help support the proposal.

Roadworks breaches. This year the Council have seen a record number of permit requests from utility firms – such as gas, water, electricity or communication companies – who want to access their infrastructure for repairs or improvement works. The Council knows that these works cause major disruption to road users across the county. Utility firms have a right to install and repair their networks which are usually under our roads and pavements. The council's role is to grant permits to allow them to carry out the necessary works and to coordinate these as far as is reasonably practical to try to minimise the impact on the public. Unfortunately, the Council have seen a sharp increase in the number of fines the council has had to issue where they’ve failed to keep to the terms of their permits. Breaches the council has taken action on include:-

• Failing to display correct details on site, including emergency contacts.

• Not taking away temporary traffic lights when they’re no longer needed.

• Failing to implement correct traffic management.

• Not publicising proposed works well enough.

• Failing to remove surplus materials and equipment.

It’s residents and road-users who bear the impact of these failures, and with the rise in the number of works across Buckinghamshire, the Council are stepping up how they manage these works :-

• Introducing seven day working for the ‘streetworks’ team, who monitor works across the county, so they can respond more quickly to problems.

• Reviewing the whole network to best understand where the busiest places and times are, as some road use patterns have changed since the pandemic.

• When these areas have been pinpointed, the Council will look at insisting on extended working hours and more night time and weekend working to lessen the impact on drivers.

• Writing to utilities companies to inform them of the new ‘zero tolerance’ approach when they fail to keep to the permitted arrangements. Companies will now receive a fine on first breach and will have their permit revoked if a further breach occurs.

• Lobbying Government to increase substantially the amount the Council can fine companies who breach their permits; this is set nationally and, with the early payment rate of £80, is totally insufficient to act as an effective deterrent.

Winter support. Buckinghamshire Council has confirmed its package of support to those most in need as we head into winter. £4.8m of Household Support Fund (HSF) from the Department for Work and Pensions is being used to provide a wide range of support to residents. The HSF money is also being used to provide grants to food and welfare voluntary and community support organisations, to help those struggling with the ongoing cost of living pressures.

The HSF supports the council's Helping Hand service which assesses applications for financial help and navigates residents to the most appropriate support.

In addition to the support provided to eligible families during school holidays through the Household Support Fund, Buckinghamshire Council also runs the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme during the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays. Funded by the Department for Education, HAF provides free holiday activities and a healthy hot meal for children in Reception – Year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals.

Surgery dates. The team hold regular surgeries across the ward to hear from residents directly. You don’t have to book an appointment to attend, however, if you would like to talk privately you can contact the team on team@ridgewaywest.uk

Hallmark August 2023. We are grateful for the support from our residents and for them reaching out to us for advice and solutions to problems and concerns.

We continue to encourage community groups to participate in the North West Chilterns Community Board and take advantage of the available funds to carry out projects.

Proud of Bucks Award. Mr Leigh Axe (resident of Lacey Green) was nominated for a Proud of Bucks Award in the category of Local Community Champion. Although he was not the winner, he was highly commended for working tirelessly for the older and younger members of the community in Lacey Green.

Traffic calming. The petition on traffic calming measures in Lacey Green, in particular the stretch of New Road from Walters Ash to Lacey Green and Main Road around St John’s School, ran until the 11^th May. This has garnered a great deal of public interest in the form of 330 signatures.

We support the main aims of the petition to continue the 40MPH speed limit from RAF High Wycombe on New Road to Lacey Green, with the 30 MPH pushed further along New Road towards Walters Ash to enable vehicles to safely slow before the bend. We also support the call for a zebra crossing being installed to connect the church to School to make it safer for children during school hours. This report while originally due for consideration at the Community Board meeting on the 27th July will now, due to technical reasons, be considered in a separate meeting in September.

Action on potholes. Bucks Council are focused on tackling the increased number of potholes and road defects this year, caused by the very wet and cold winter. The team have reached the milestone of completing 10,000 repairs since the new Buckinghamshire Highways contract began on 1 April. This is on top of the annual re-surfacing programme. Since 1st April, there have been 12,700 pothole repairs carried out by 15 teams and over 30 plane and patch programmes. In addition, there have been over 21,000 drains and gullies cleaned since 1st April and over 1,200 street lights repaired.

The Council fix the most urgent repairs first and with the warmer weather will be able to fix more potholes permanently first time, instead of needing to make temporary repairs and return later. Added to this, a new time-saving three-in-one Pothole Pro machine is enabling crews to make more efficient reactive repairs across the county. The extended plane and patch programme has begun in earnest, along with planning for the surface dressing, micro surfacing and major re-surfacing programmes that began in June.

The annual planned wider maintenance and improvements programme is well under way too — and in fact the Council are accelerating this work to address the condition of our roads sooner. Please continue to report any issues through www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/FixMyStreet

Annual canvas. This month, the Council's Electoral Services team will be sending either a letter or an email to all households in Buckinghamshire as part of the annual canvass, asking residents to check their electoral registration details are correct to make sure they retain their right to vote in future elections.

The team will also be using this opportunity to raise awareness of the new requirement for voters to provide a form of acceptable photo ID at polling stations. More information on this can be found on the council website.

Surgery dates. The team hold regular surgeries across the ward to hear from residents directly. You don’t have to book an appointment to attend, however, if you would like to talk privately you can contact the team on team@ridgewaywest.uk Surgery dates for the year are below, running from

11am-1pm: 5th August — Bledlow Ridge Village Hall

7th October — Stokenchurch Community: Library

9th December — Bledlow Ridge Village Hall

lf you have any other matters or concerns relating to Buckinghamshire Council such as Roads, Adult Social Care, Children services, Education, Planning, Waste & Recycling and Libraries for example that you need some assistance with, please don't hesitate to contact us:-

Carl Etholen

carl.etholen@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07810 442617

Robert Carington

robert.carington@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07515 997953

Shade Adoh

shade.adoh@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07941 618331

Hallmark November 2022. The end of the year 2022 is rapidly approaching and what a year it has been. In June we celebrated Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and then in September, we mourned her passing with the proclamation of King Charles’ accession to the throne.

With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, all of us in the UK are seeing a rise in the cost of living, energy costs, interest rates and inflation.

Buckinghamshire Council is working hard on its priorities and spending plans for next year. So, like other Councils across the UK, the Council is in the process of setting its budget for 2023/2024. 82% of the cost of providing all its services comes from the collection of Council tax.

On 12th October, Buckinghamshire Council launched “Money Matters” – the way for residents to tell us what matters most to them when we allocate available funds during next year. The budget will pay for services such as road repairs, adult social care, children’s services, running libraries and leisure centres, and support for residents facing hardship.

This consultation closes at midnight on 20th November. You can complete the online survey or download a printed version and send it back. Here is the link to the website: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/corporate-services/budget-2023-24/

With the financial pressures Buckinghamshire Council runs the “Helping Hand” initiative which is there to help individuals or families in need, those on low incomes and those who are experiencing a financial emergency or crisis. Details can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/cost-of-living/

The Bledlow Ridge Household Recycling Centre closed in March 2019 due to Buckinghamshire County Council having to make savings due to financial pressures even though there was a petition with over 4,500 signatures opposing the closure.

A Community Interest Company was set up with the support of 12 Town and Parish Councils to act as a vehicle to submit a planning application to re-open it independently. With the Covid pandemic and the transition of the Councils to the new unitary, the application went to appeal due to non-determination. The Planning appeal was dismissed in August 2021 by the Planning Inspector solely on the CIC not having an adequate Minerals and Waste Management plan.

With the transition to the new unitary, Buckinghamshire Council has made savings within the Climate Change and the Environment Portfolio, and with the expansion of Princes Risborough in the next few years, the Cabinet met on 22^nd September and voted to re-open this facility sometime in November if not sooner. Details of this can be found here:- https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/household-recycling-centres-permits-and-waste-facilities/find-your-nearest-household-recycling-centre/bledlow-recycling-centre/

If you have any other matters or concerns relating to Buckinghamshire Council such as Roads, Adult Social Care,

Children Services, Education, Planning, Waste and Recycling and Libraries for example that you need some assistance with, please don’t hesitate to contact either:

Carl Etholen. carl.etholen@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07810 442617. Robert Carington. robert.carington@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07515 997953. Shade Adoh

shade.adoh@buckinghamshire.gov.uk 07941 618331

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful Happy New Year 2023.